BUFFALO, N.Y. – Led by 27 points from senior forward
AJ Clayton and a career-high 16 rebounds from junior forward
Aidan Hadaway, the Ohio men's basketball team (8-6, 2-0 MAC) returned to action Tuesday night (Jan. 7), defeating Buffalo (5-9, 0-2 MAC), 88-77, inside Alumni Arena.
Overall, Ohio shot 50.8 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three and were 14-of-19 from the line, while UB shot 42.6 percent from the field, 25.9 percent from three and were 14-of-22 from the line. Ohio outrebounded UB 45-33. Both teams dished out 19 assists, while Ohio recorded nine steals and forced 13 turnovers.
Individually, Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) scored 27 points, going 10-of-18 from the field and 4-of-8 from three, while grabbing seven boards and recording three blocks. Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) scored 17 points, going 7-of-10 from the field and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds. Graduate student forward
Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio) added 10 points, while junior guard
Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) scored nine points and had five rebounds.
Buffalo won the tip and got on the board first but Ohio quickly tied the game with a layup from Hadaway. The two teams continued to trade baskets with Buffalo taking an 8-5 lead going into the first media timeout. After going down 12-5, the Bobcats went on an 8-2 run to cut the UB lead to 14-13, forcing Buffalo to call a timeout with 8:38 to go in the half. Out of the timeout, a defensive stop from the Bobcats resulted in a transition three by Clayton, putting the Bobcats up 16-14 going into the under-eight media timeout.
Ohio continued the run with Hadaway leading the Bobcats' offense. Behind two scoring plays by Hadaway, the Bobcats took a 27-14 lead before Buffalo ended its five-minute offensive drought. Ohio responded with freshman forward
Ayden Evans (Radcliff, Ky.) capitalizing on an alley-oop dunk to give Ohio a 29-16 lead with 3:52 left in the half. Out of the break, free throws from Clayton put the Bobcats up 31-16 before the Bulls got on the board with a jumper. Junior guard
Ajay Sheldon's (Dublin, Ohio) fastbreak layup aided Ohio as it continued to dominated offensively for the remainder of the first half, only allowed two baskets by Buffalo. The Bobcats led the Bulls, 37-20 going into halftime.
At the half, Ohio shot 46.4 percent from the field, 20.0 percent from three and were 9-of-13 from the line, while Buffalo shot 29.4 percent from the field, were 0-for-12 from three and went 0-for-2 from the line. Ohio outrebounded UB, 23-18, while Buffalo dished out seven assists to Ohio's six.
Ohio opened the second half with a jumper from Hadaway. After UB responded with a dunk, a layup from junior guard
Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) and threes from redshirt sophomore guard
AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) and Clayton helped put the Bobcats up 51-32 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded baskets and free throws, with layups from Searls and graduate student guard
Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.), giving Ohio a 20-point lead with 11:47 remaining in the game.
Out of the break, free throws from Brown and another layup from Hadaway helped increase Ohio's lead to 64-46 with 8:50 to go. As the game progressed, the Bobcats and Bulls traded baskets. Clayton caught fire with eight-straight points, including two threes and a dunk, to put Ohio up 83-66 with under three minutes to go in the game.
In the final minutes of the game, Ohio utilized its bench. Redshirt sophomore guard
Ben Estis (Southlake, Texas) hit a three, putting Ohio up 88-71 with 1:26 to go. However, Buffalo went on an 8-0 run to cut the Ohio lead to nine with 7.8 seconds to go. Despite Buffalo's scoring run, the Bobcats were able to get possession and run out the clock, securing the victory.
For Buffalo, Tyson Dunn led the way with 21 points, five rebounds and four steals.
The Bobcats are back in Athens on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they host Northern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. The game is the first on a men's and women's doubleheader with the women's team taking on Kent State at 3:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the men's game.
#OUohyeah
